North State Voices: Dogs offer therapy in gloomy situations

I respect the humans who figured out that dogs bring relief to difficult or tragic situations, and I admire the people who continue to bring canine healing to our brokenhearted.

It's unfortunate that they're in demand.

As 2012 came to a bittersweet close, the news of the tragedy in Newtown surrounded each of us. You couldn't get away from it. Reluctantly glued to the news one evening, I listened to that gray-haired, blue-eyed news icon interview various Newtown residents, grasping for words to explain the inexplicable. The names and ages of victims floated hauntingly across a dark screen at the end of the newscast.

That did it for me — I couldn't take another minute. Gathering my ragged self, I reached for the remote control's OFF button, but suddenly the scene changed. I stopped, stared, sighed: finally, relief from this misery.

A gaggle of golden retrievers wearing "Comfort Dogs" — the name of their organization — uniforms were rubbing up against giggling children and teary-eyed adults in Newtown's downtown plaza.

Tails wagging, mouths panting, heads held high reaching for pats and soaking up children's hugs from Newtown residents, these special four-legged creatures brought unconditional love, and a moment of brightness to the daunting darkness.

At the local level, I recalled reading about a popular golden retriever named Niki who visits the Enloe Cancer Center regularly with her handler, bringing just such relief to patients. There, Cancer Support Program Coordinator Rebecca Senoglu runs the PAWS (Pet Activities With Service) Program, which focuses on animals, specifically dogs, socially interacting with patients for companionship and distraction.

"People's faces light up when one of the dogs comes in," Senoglu explained. "We have four Pet Partners dogs visiting regularly. Some of our patients sit for 6-8 hours for infusion, so the dogs break up the day and give the patients something to talk about."

Niki, a young golden retriever; Brillo, an appropriately named gray poodle; Malta, a Maltese that arrives in a pink stroller; and Rosie, a labradoodle, each have a day of the week they visit the center. Give these certified Pet Partners and their handlers a round of applause.

"They go through all the areas of the center," Senoglu reported. "Patients love them, but staff love these dogs too. Radiation oncology can't wait for their visits."

Wouldn't we all love such a visit?

I spoke with Alexa Voyer, a mother of a patient, about her daughter's visits. "She looks forward to seeing Niki, since we come on Niki's day," the mother said. "Her favorite things are that Niki has a new trick to share, and sometimes Niki watches a movie with her on her bed.

"It's nice to have the dogs there because it's not medical at all. Infusion is a heavy subject, and so having something light in the midst of it gives her something to look forward to."

Therapy animals, usually dogs, and their handlers are trained and evaluated to become official Pet Partners. A local organization called Canine Companions offers therapy dog training prep classes designed to help pets and their handlers prepare for the Pet Partners evaluation. If passed, they're official Pet Partners.

Typical tests call for a pet being able to handle sudden loud or strange noises, walking on unfamiliar surfaces comfortably, and not being frightened by people with canes, wheelchairs or walkers.

The most important characteristic, though, is the animal's temperament. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, gentle and at ease in all situations. Enjoying human contact, sometimes offered clumsily, is paramount.

Of over a dozen Pet Partners in Chico, the Enloe Cancer Center is lucky to have four of them dedicated to visiting patients.

Julie Anderson-Nilsson is a Chico resident and columnist for North State Voices, a rotating panel of columnists that appears each Thursday. She can be reached at jules48.nilsson@gmail.com.